MedTools

A unified repository of surgical implants, technique guides, comparisons, and unpackaging videos.

With so many orthopedic implant companies and device options, I am amazed it has taken so long for someone to create a central educational repository.  MedTools is attempting to do just that in the form of both a website and app.  The app itself is well organized with a side-bar menu organized by body part, and sub-menus organized by implant type.  For a generic implant type (ex: Volar Distal Radius Plates, or Total Knee Arthroplasty), the user can quickly see a collection of all available companies and device offerings.  In some cases (total joint arthroplasty) this can include well over 20 different implants from more than 10 companies.  Users can then select a specific implant to obtain product information such as technique guides, reference charts, and photographs of the surgical tray to help familiarize one’s self with the instrumentation.  The app and website have also started video taping “unboxing” of specific devices to ensure that surgeons and their operative staff are prepared and familiar with devices they plan to use.

Overall, this app seems to have been a long-time coming and reflects a significant investment in work and time.  I anticipate the breadth of implants will grow significantly in the near future, which should greatly increase its value and overall utility to surgeons.

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OrthoGuidelines

App for reviewing the AAOS Guidelines and Appropriate Use Criteria for specific diagnoses.

I applaud the AAOS for creating a very useful and intuitive app for reviewing and consulting the AAOS Guidelines and Appropriate Use Criteria for specific diagnoses.  As most orthopaedic surgeons and trainees are aware, the AAOS has committed a significant effort to developing useful guidelines and tools to help surgeons make the appropriate surgical decisions when treating a number of common conditions.  Until now, the guidelines could only be accessed in their PDF form.  This app allows anyone to review the published guidelines in a very useful format.  The app currently includes 17 guidelines (CPG) and 4 appropriate use criteria (AUC) modules.  The guidelines can be sorted by strength and stage of care.

Overall, the app is well made and a great step forward in improving access to these important tools.  I recommend the app to both trainees (for both education and testing purposes) as well as surgeons (for treatment purposes).

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OrthoBullets: Bullets*

OrthoBullets’ stand-alone and companion app with study material, images, questions, and quizzes

OrthoBullets has scored a home run with their new Bullets* app available from the iTunes store.  This app is can be used as a companion app to the existing OrthoBullets website, but also functions extraordinarily well as a stand-alone resource.  The app consists of 5 sections: Topics, QBank, Cases, Evidence and PASS.  The topics section includes all information on the OrthoBullets site, separated in the same familiar lists and easily searched by keyword.  I found the search and browsing to be very fast and intuitive.  Importantly, each topic includes the same figures, diagrams, and questions associated with the web version to help learn concepts through the VEPTR technique.

The QBank also integrates with your existing online login and automatically transfers over your existing TestMaster scores and personal tests.  It also allows you to create new tests which can be defined by test style, topics, number of questions, etc.  The format will be very familiar to existing OrthoBullets users.

The cases will be familiar to any OrthoBullets user, and includes a presentation, images, and the valuable comments and discussion that ensures.  One of the newest features includes the ability to select “Evidence” to support an answer to a question, greatly enhancing the validity and value of this service.  The evidence can also be searched independently, and by specialty.  All of this is seamlessly integrated into the mobile format.

Lastly, the PASS section is available to residents who already use the PASS system in their residency program.  While I could not test this section entirely, it appears to function similar to the website equivalent.

Overall, the Bullets* app is a full-featured educational tool for any orthopaedic student, resident, fellow, or attending.  With quick and easy access to the entire OrthoBullets database combined with cases, quiz access and a versatile interface – I highly recommend this free app to everyone.

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AAOS Access

Complete video content from the AAOS

The American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) has now created a mobile app portal for access to an entire library of AAOS video content.  The AAOS Access app includes the ability to view, download, and save videos from the Orthopaedic Video Theater, previously only found on the AAOS website.  The user interface is easy to navigate, with a navigation tab on the left providing shortcuts to featured videos, special collections, or specific topics.  Videos can be downloaded for viewing, or streamed directly on the device.  Video and audio content is very good, and can be watched in full screen mode.   The current collection (March 2015) includes 414 videos, an impressive collection, and certainly more will be added in the future.  Additional features include a search function as well as a bookmark tool for easily accessing favorites.

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Insights Orthopedics

Orthopaedic journal and news aggregator with personalized information.

Insights Orthopedics is a comprehensive and visually stunning news and research aggregator for orthopedics.  With a recent redesign in October 2014, their interface has become even more streamlined and visually appealing. Using their specialized search engine, the app collects orthopaedic journals, videos, full-text articles, news, podcasts, images, clinical trials, and association information and presents it in a clear and functional format.  The app looks and feels like the “flipboard for orthopaedic surgery.” The initial landing page presents the various modules, including journal clubs from various institutions, leading journal articles, videos, upcoming events, bookmarks, and industry.  A simple swipe of the keyboard quickly scrolls through the various articles and videos permitting continued browsing of abstracts.  With the new features, thousands of institutional library subscriptions have been adding, permitting full access to the article for users.  The intuitive user interface includes the ability to bookmark resources for off-line browsing or share links via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, email, and SMS.  One of the apps most versatile features is the Aggregator function, which works as a search and includes many pre-populated key terms as well as the ability to type in your own words.

Overall, this app has the look and feel of a “top app” with a number of useful features for any orthopaedic surgeon or trainee.

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AAOS Musculoskeletal Exam – Spine

Simple app made by the AAOS to learn the spine exam

I commend the AAOS’ effort to create mobile educational material for students and trainees, which includes this simple app for learning the spine exam.  This app has a very simple structural layout in list form that presents the spine exam: standing/seated/supine/prone examination, Waddel signs, cervical spine muscle testing and cervical spine range of motion testing.  Each part of the exam includes a description, instructions and video.  In addition, references are provided for further reading. However, despite the useful information presented here, the app is bare and lacks much depth.  The user interface is unfortunately too simple and somewhat uninviting.  Overall, the content includes 46 total exam maneuvers.  At a cost of $9, this is quite a high price considering other apps that include more information and detail at a better value.  I hope that this app will be expanded upon and improved in future versions.

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Spine MD

A personal practice app for Dr. Todd Lanman with patient information, videos, and peri-operative as well as post-operative rehabilitation education.

This personal practice app is a full-featured patient portal for Dr. Todd Lanman, a spine surgeon in Beverly Hills. Powered by CARE, the app provides a personalized website and personalized physical therapy/rehabilitation protocols for patients.   The app is incredibly comprehensive by providing information to patients about their surgery, their surgeon, and lists the exercises they should be performing week-by-week after surgery with complete video demonstrations.  Pre- and post-operative information is available to patients, and the post-operative physical therapy protocol is clearly organized for patients to reference either at home or at the gym.  The user interface is intuitive and visually appealing. Overall, the application has been well implemented and would be a great benefit to any patients of Dr. Lanman.

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FRAX

A digital and mobile tool for calculating the FRAX score.

This app is a very useful and free tool for calculating the WHO Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX).   Created by the International Osteoporosis Foundation and Doctot, the app is intuitive and simple to use.   The app includes a detailed section about FRAX and its purpose: to calculate a patient’s 10-year probably of fracture based on BMD – and references have been provided.  To use the actual assessment tool, select “start the test.”  The app then walks you through a series of 14 questions on the FRAX, such as age, gender, ethnicity, weight, height, history of fractures, co-morbidities (smoking, steroids, RA, osteoporosis, alcohol), type of fracture, and T-score.  The final result is a FRAX score that estimates the risk of fracture based on the validated tool.  Users can then save the score with a patient’s name. Overall, this very simple app is both validated and effective and should be highly considered for anyone who already uses FRAX in their office.

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Cervical Spondylosis

Stretching, activity, and strengthening exercises focused on reducing symptoms of cervical spondylosis.

This interesting app provides information and demonstrations of exercises to assist with cervical spondylosis. What makes the app “unique” is the graphical presentation which, for lack of a better description, reminds me of the graphics one would find on Super Nintendo.  Nevertheless, the app includes 3 stretching exercises, 7 active exercises, and 8 strengthening exercises for the cervical spine. These includes things like trapezius stretch, isometric lateral neck flexion, or chin tucks.  Each exercise has a “video” demonstration that consists of captions while the Super Nintendo-esque graphics demonstration the motion through a series of static images.  The app has no information about the author or developer, but all exercises seem relatively common and safe. Thus, the app may be useful for individuals searching for a quick reference to cervical spine exercises.

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AO Spine Principles

A visually impressive description of AO Spine treatment principles.

This simple and lightweight app includes basic information about the AO Spine principles.  The app is divided into 3 main sections: the home screen, principles, and details. There are 6 different classifications: trauma, tumor, deformity, degeneration, infection, and metabolic/inflammatory/genetic.  Selecting each section then includes a rotating wheel describing each of the 4 principles: stability, alignment, biology, and function.  The information provided is general and broad, and does not serve as a useful resource.  However, as a single download and review, this is somewhat interesting.

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CORE – Clinical Orthopedic Exam

CORE has set the standard for a clinical exam app.  Divided by body part, body region, alphabetical, favorites, or search – the app contains a database of over 400 clinical tests which includes a purpose, instructions, video demo, and test properties.   The most striking feature of this app, in addition to the vast collection of tests and videos, is actually the “properties” tab.  For every test, data is presented regarding the sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratio, accuracy and other relevant statistical tests based on primary literature references.  These lists are incredibly complete.  For example, the hip impingement test lists 10 primary sources with their respective sensitivities and specificities using the impingement test to detect labral tears.  In addition, by selecting the primary references the user is directed to the full literature source with the abstract text.  This is a feature that I have not seen replicated by any other orthopaedic reference.  The videos can either be downloaded to the app or a link to YouTube can be emailed/shared with colleagues.  Tests can be marked as a “favorite” and quickly reviewed at a later time.  Unfortunately, the search feature was not ideal.  When I searched “grind” there were “no results” but when I searched “Apley” I was provided with Apley’s Grind Test.  This app seems ideal for a medical student with an interest in musculoskeletal medicine (PM&R, sports medicine, or orthopaedic surgery) or a junior resident in any of these fields.  Overall, a very complete and useful app for trainees.

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Nerve Whiz

Extraordinary app with detailed and complete information about the brachial and lumbar plexes, including innervation, sensory distribution, and sites of compression.

Developed by Zach London, MD from University of Michigan, Nerve Whiz is one of the most useful and intuitive nerve reference resources I have come across.  The app includes complete information about the course, branches, innervation, sensory distribution, and sites of compression of the brachial plexus (C5-T1) and lumbar plexus (L2-S2).  The app has multiple sections with hidden gems.  “Chart” includes a complete listing of all data, organized by either upper or lower extremity and sorted by muscle, nerve, roots, action, trunk, or cord.  The next feature is an incredible “muscle localizer” and uses an intuitive algorithm to provide the site of injury after the user selects muscles that are injured.  For example, selecting a weak “deltoid” returns localization to either C5, C6, upper trunk, posterior cord, or axillary nerve.  The diagram section utilizes a brachial plexus diagram and highlights the selected area of interest – the diagram is both intuitive and complete.  The final section, “sensory,” allows the user to point to an area of sensory loss and returns a list of potential roots and nerves that may be injured, with associated dermatome diagrams.  Overall, this extraordinary reference app should be in the pocket of every medical student and orthopaedic, neurologic, or neurosurgical trainee.

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Top Ortho “App”

Download the www.TopOrthoApps.com iPhone app!  You’re already on the website, why not have on-the-go access direct from your iPhone?  This app has all of the best Top Ortho App lists that you’re used to: Top Apps, Free Apps, iPad Apps, Journals, Sports Apps, and much more!  Full reviews and screenshots are all available for free.

This app has all of the best Top Ortho App lists that you’re used to: Top Apps, Free Apps, iPad Apps, Journals, Sports Apps, and much more!  Full reviews and screenshots are all available for free.

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Orthopaedic Patient Information

Very high-quality 3D anatomical models with video demonstrations of common anatomy, pathology, and treatments.

Orthopaedic Patient Information is part of the 3D4Medical’s suite of full-featured anatomy apps.  All of their apps follow a similar and intuitive format, but this one differs slightly. The relevant body part is presented with a video demonstrating the most common anatomy, conditions, and treatments.  These demonstrations are very high quality.   The level of detail and anatomical accuracy of all muscles, tendons, vessels, nerves, ligaments and bones is impressive.  Overall, the entire suite of 3D4Medical anatomy apps are the best anatomy models we have seen yet, and this patient information app is fantastic.

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Spine Pro III

Full-featured 3D anatomy models with support for 3D rotation, various anatomy layers, cross-sectional slices, annotations, and video demonstrations.

Spine Pro III is part of the 3D4Medical’s suite of full-featured anatomy apps.  All of their apps follow a similar and intuitive format. The relevant body part is presented with skin covering, and different anatomical layers can then be “unwrapped” sequentially through the body.  The level of detail and anatomical accuracy of all muscles, tendons, vessels, nerves, ligaments and bones is impressive.  In addition to the different layers, the view can be manipulated freely.  All body parts can be rotated in the horizontal plan through 360 degrees rotation.  In addition, axial, coronal, and sagittal slices can be taken through various levels of each joint or body part.  The app includes “pins” which already identify every possible structure of every layer.  In addition, most of the apps in the series include videos demonstrating relevant surgical procedures or common pathologies.  These demonstrations are very high quality.  The app includes a “pen” feature for drawing on the screen, however doodles are not saved and disappear once the pen is turned off.  There is even a separate button to turn vessels on and off.  Overall, the entire suite of 3D4Medical anatomy apps are the best anatomy models we have seen yet, based on their accuracy, level of control, and video demonstrations.  Ideal for health care students and possibly even for surgical preparation.

Stryker ARIA Spine

Animated and 3D models of the Stryker ARIA Spine system.

Stryker has expanded their diverse collection of apps with an animated technique guide for their ARIA spine system.  The app, based on Visible Body technology, offers a walk-through of their equipment and procedure with the ability to change the camera orientation, zoom, show/remove anatomical parts or surgical equipment, and provides audio and text guidance to the user.  Overall, the use of interactive 3D models makes for a pleasant user interface that is very impressive.  The app would be most appropriate for trainees preparing for a case, an operating room tech familiarizing themselves with a procedure, or a patient who wants to better understand their operation.

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AAOS eBooks

Full-featured app for downloading and reading books in your AAOS bookshelf library. Text and images are all very clean and apps runs smoothly.

AAOS eBooks, that provides mobile access to titles purchased from their web-based store. As of writing, the store includes 8 popular titles, but is expected to increase to over 30 titles within the next few months.  Unfortunately purchases cannot be made directly through the app, but rather must be paid for on the website.  In addition, although the app asks users to log in via their AAOS username and password, this is an error and rather users must register at the AAOS eBookstore website (www.ebooks.aaos.org) to gain login information. After logging in, users can view the books they have purchased and can download them selectively, ranging in size from about 10-80 Mb.  Once downloaded, the text viewer has typical options, including the ability to change the font, change text size, adjust brightness, highlight text, make notes, and place bookmarks.  The annotation functions are primitive, at best, and even the instructions for highlighting require 4 separate steps each time.  The books themselves are of high quality, text is crisp, and images are clear, however the user cannot increase the image size, which often prevents fully appreciating many of the detailed illustrations.  Because books are downloaded to the device, they are accessible even without internet access, which is a valuable feature.  The app is still primitive in its feature set and title selection.  In addition, some books, such as OKU 10, already ship with a CD that includes a digital PDF version of the book, which is much easier to read and annotate using any of the popular PDF readers for mobile devices.

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VCF Mobile

Free information about vertebral compression fractures from Medtronic, including a description of balloon kyphoplasty and the Medtronic VCF product line.

The app provides general information and images about vertebral compression fractures while simultaneously promoting Medtronic’s line of VCF products.  The app runs well, and is divided into various sections, such as VCF, Product Info, Literature, Requests, and Dr. Look-up.  The general VCF information is basic level information appropriate for patients and includes drawings and videos, as well as “risks of VCF.”  In addition, there is an expended information module about balloon kyphoplasty.  The product information section includes the ability to request waiting room brochures and study abtracts.  The literature section is actually quite useful, and has 5 selected studies (obviously supporting balloon kyphoplasty) with summaries of the findings and results. Overall, the app provides some information for patients and may help surgeons reference a small subset of the available literature and request patient information material.

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OrthoRef

A list-based reference of orthopaedic classification systems from the creator of NeuroMind, one of the top Neurosurgery apps.

From the creator of top-app NeuroMind, this app attempts to provide a comprehensive list of orthopaedic classification systems and decision support for orthopaedic surgeons and trainees.  The app is organized into 3 sections: scores, decision support, and “other.”  Currently the app is in its infancy and is limited by the number of scores available, as well as a lack of images.  In total, this app currently contains over 100 scoring and classification systems.  The list is organized by body part, and for the most part, many of the most common systems are included.  Unfortunately, the app is limited by the fact that there are no images provided to assist with fracture descriptions, which are relatively succinct and difficult to understand if not already familiar with a particular injury scoring system.  The decision support tab provides assistive scoring tools for 9 different injuries, including SLIC, TLICS, and stroke risk in AF.  These are definitely helpful.  The “other” section includes links to a safe surgery checklist as well as the TEDx talk given by the app’s creator, Pieter Kubben.  Overall, this app is most appropriate for surgeons already familiar with a particular classification system and who need a reminder about the details.

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EBSS.live

An orthopaedic spine trauma literature search tool for finding articles about spine surgery, full abstracts, and levels of evidence.

AO Foundation has created a unique and useful tool that is a great resource for residents, students,  and orthopaedic surgeons alike who perform spine surgery.  The app is organized by subtopic: Trauma, Tumor, Deformity, Degeneration, Infection, and Metabolic/Inflammatory/Genetic spine diseases.  In total, the app includes over 3800 peer-reviewed clinical articles applicable to spine surgery.  The user can also search by key word, and can presumably find relevant articles related to very specific topics.  The search algorithm appears to apply to the title, as well as the abstract.  In addition, the app easily identifies the level of evidence for each article, provides the full abstract, and links to the Pubmed abstract.  Overall, while smart phones are typically not the platform of choice to browse the literature, this app is certainly worth a look.

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FlipChart for Spine

This app is created by Stryker as a patient education tool for surgeons treating degenerative disc disease and spondylolisthesis.  The app is organized into charts, my charts, and “create a chart.”  The established “charts” are like slideshows with text, images, and diagrams that teach patients about their disease. The “create a chart” feature allows the user to add text and comments to the educational image-based slide show to add commentary within the chart.  A pen is available to mark the background or highlight particular areas of the image.  Once complete, the chart appears in the “my charts” tab for later reference.  Thus, a surgeon could spend some time creating a personalized chart for his/her surgeries and then use that chart to education patients in clinic about what the procedure will entail.  Overall, the user interface is very simple and easy to navigate and the app is well-made.  As a patient education tool, this may be useful for surgeons who have time to explain the details of surgery to patients accompanied by images.

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RealWorld Orthopaedics

Created by physicians and medical students at the Universite de Sherbrooke, this is one of the best musculoskeletal radiology apps available. The app is organized into subheadings: Medical, Technical, and Chapters.  Although not intuitively named, each section contains an abundance of information medical and radiology information.  For example, the Medical section includes a listing of about 150 radiographic fractures and dislocations, with each topic including 1-2 different patient cases.  Selecting a patient includes high-resolution images of the named pathology.  The most valuable and impressive part of the app, however, is the “eye” icon which overlays colorful highlighting directly over the radiograph with associated annotations (“glasses” icon) to explain the important radiographic findings.  This feature, alone, is impressive.  An information icon also links directly to reading material found in the Chapter section.  The Technical and Chapter sections include the same library of patients and images, but organized in a different way.  The most notable feature this app lacks is a “search” function that can quickly search for a fracture or dislocation of choice.  Overall, a very well-made and impressive app that would be useful to any medical student, intern, or junior resident that needs to learn about musculoskeletal radiology.

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Aesculap Spine MIS Thoracolumbar

This app is a product information app for Aesculap MIS devices.  The app is divided into three sections: Philosophy, Products, and Training Courses.  The Philosophy section is organized into a three-page PDF brochure with information about minimally invasive spine surgery. The products section promotes four of their products, and include a movie showcasing their products, the product brochure, the surgical technique guide, example radiographic images, links to their website, and instructions for use (although the information section states that the app is not intended to provide technical advice or instructions). The training courses section includes brochures about their training courses (“Aesculap Academy”), but links to their website for full information.   Overall, the app is designed to promote Aesculap products and otherwise has little value to orthopaedic practitioners or patients.

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iSpinePainManagement

This app is part of a group of spine-related education tools designed to help clinicians presents information about the spine to patients.  The app is organized in a list format divided into analgesia, diagnostic, and discectomy of the cervical (3 sections) and lumbar (3 sections) spine.  Within each sub-section users will then find an expended collection of treatment modalities (i.e. facet joint injection, spinal cord simulation trial, etc.).  Then, once selecting the desired topic, app users can read a brief description of the problem or part, watch a relevant educational video, view demonstrative key images, review relevant medical imaging, and read notes on the subject.  An impressive feature is that the notes are compatible with AirPrint if available on your iPhone, which allows for direct printing to a compatible wireless printer.

Overall, the information provided is basic and appropriate for educating patients about their diseases.  The images are very clear and well-designed computer graphics and maintain a consistent style throughout the app.  The images also include appropriate labels and markers for demonstration purposes and are accompanied by additional information about the patient and pathology.  This app can be useful to providers who choose to educate their patients about cervical and lumbar disease using their iPhone or iPad.  The videos appear to be native to the device, explaining the app’s 1.0 GB download size.

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iSpineOperations

This app is part of a group of spine-related education tools designed to help clinicians presents information about the spine to patients.  The app is organized in a list format divided into the anterior approaches, decompression, discectomy, and fusion of the cervical (4 sections) and lumbar (4 sections) spine in addition to an additional section titled bone graft harvesting.  Once selecting the desired topic, app users can read a brief description of the operation and watch a relevant educational video focusing on the procedure goals or technique, view demonstrative key images, review relevant medical imaging, and read notes on the subject.  An impressive feature is that the notes are compatible with AirPrint if available on your iPhone, which allows for direct printing to a compatible wireless printer.

Overall, the information provided is basic and appropriate for educating patients about their diseases.  The images are very clear and well-designed computer graphics and maintain a consistent style throughout the app.  The images also include appropriate labels and markers for demonstration purposes and are accompanied by additional information about the patient and pathology.  This app can be useful to providers who choose to educate their patients about cervical and lumbar disease using their iPhone or iPad.  The videos appear to be native to the device, explaining the app’s 1.4 GB download size.

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iSpineCare

This app is part of a group of spine-related education tools designed to help clinicians presents information about the spine to patients.  The app is organized in a list format divided into the anatomy, movements, muscles, and pathology of the cervical (4 sections) and lumbar (4 sections) spine.  Within each sub-section users will then find an expended collection of body parts or pathologies (i.e. fact joints, discs, congenital stenosis, disc protrusion, etc.).  Then, once selecting the desired topic, app users can read a brief description of the problem or part, watch a relevant educational video, view demonstrative key images, review relevant medical imaging, and read notes on the subject.  An impressive feature is that the notes are compatible with AirPrint if available on your iPhone, which allows for direct printing to a compatible wireless printer.

Overall, the information provided is basic and appropriate for educating patients about their diseases.  The images are very clear and well-designed computer graphics and maintain a consistent style throughout the app.  The images also include appropriate labels and markers for demonstration purposes and are accompanied by additional information about the patient and pathology.  This app can be useful to providers who choose to educate their patients about cervical and lumbar disease using their iPhone or iPad.  The videos appear to be native to the device, explaining the app’s 1.3 GB download size.

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Paley Growth

This app is a useful utility for any orthopaedic surgeon or physician who treats limb-length discrepencies or needs a limb-length, trunk-height, or total height prediction tool.  Based on the publications and equations developed by Dr. Paley, and produced by Dr. Paley himself, the app is organized into 6 sections: discrepancy, bone length, fetal, height, sitting height, achondroplasia, and “other charts” which includes supporting tables, charts, and diagrams.  Each main section is organized into sub-categories to help a provider identify the appropriate equation.  Once the proper function as been selected, the app is as easy as entering the patients age, gender, and relevant values (limb length, current height, discrepancy, etc.).  Overall, the app provides  a free and invaluable tool for physicians who use the multiplier method in their clinical practice.

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CobbMeter

CobbMeter joins a number of apps that utilize the iPhone’s internal accelerometer to conveniently measure clinically relevant angular measurements.  In this case, the app is beautifully designed to assist with the measurements scoliosis, kyphosis, and sacral slope.  The user interface is very simple and intuitive and includes the ability to save and email data for specific patients.  One thing that sets this app apart from other goniometric devices is the elegant interface, as well as the ability to receive the angular results via either a male or female voice.  Unfortunately, at a price of $19.99, this app is somewhat expensive given its limited function and less expensive competitors.  However, for providers that intend to use this app regularly and appreciate the nice design, this may be a good investment.

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AgingSpine

AgingSpine is part of the Orca Health collection of apps that provides information for patients about various orthopaedic conditions.  Like the entire “decide” series, the user interface, graphics, and interactive anatomy modules are superb and allow the user to learn about degenerative spine anatomy while rotating, flexing, and zooming in on the images.  The conditions covered in this app include osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, degenerative disc disease, kyphosis, degenerative scoliosis, spondylolisthesis, lumbar stenosis, and cervical stenosis.  Consistent with the entire line of apps, each disease includes a plethora of xray, MRI, and CT imaging with appropriate annotations demonstrating normal and pathologic conditions.  Audio recordings are also included to narrate the text as well. Like the other apps in this series, users can search for medical providers that treat these conditions.  Overall, AgingSpine is a very impressive addition to the Orca Health “decide” series and has the potential to greatly improve patient education and comprehension about orthopaedic conditions.

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Scoligauge

Part of the goniometer series developed by Ockendon.net, scoligauge uses the iPhone’s internal accelerometer to mimic a scoliometer.  The user first calibrates the device on a level surface, and then chooses to measure the angle based on the device’s position on an object or based on the camera image. The app shows a very realistic scoliometer model during the measurement.   Overall, the app relies on the accuracy of your iPhone’s internal accelerometer, but the app does what it says and allows for precise and objective measurements when a standard scoliometer is unavailable.

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SpineDecide

SpineDecide is part of the Orca Health collection of apps that provides information for patients about various orthopaedic conditions.  Like the entire “decide” series, the user interface, graphics, and interactive anatomy modules are superb and allow the user to learn about spine anatomy while rotating, flexing, and zooming in on the images.  The conditions covered in this app include cervical bulge, cervical herniation, cervical stenosis, spondylolisthesis, lumbar bulge, lumber herniation, lumbar stenosis, degenerative disc disease, kyphosis, and scoliosis.  Consistent with the entire line of apps, each disease includes a plethora of xray, MRI, and CT imaging with appropriate annotations demonstrating normal and pathologic conditions.  Audio recordings are also included to narrate the text as well. Like the other apps in this series, users can search for medical providers that treat these conditions.  Overall, SpineDecide is a very impressive addition to the Orca Health “decide” series and has the potential to greatly improve patient education and comprehension about orthopaedic conditions.

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Stryker IVS

Overall: 4
Functionality: 4
Coolness: 4

Similar to other product- and device-driven applications, Stryker IVS provides information for about Stryker’s line of spine surgery products.  The app is divided into 4 sections: procedures, products, physicians, and sharing.  One unique aspect to this app is that it appears to be aimed for both surgeons and patients.  For example, under the procedures and products sections, there are brief descriptions of the disease or procedure (disc decompression, for example) followed by resources such as videos, images, and documents geared towards both patient education (simplified animated media) as well as surgeon education (product guides and specifications).  Of course, Stryker products are presented adjacent to the pathologies they are intended to treat.  The photos and videos are informative and can help patients understand their disease.  The third section, physicians, returns the contact information of physicians and medical centers within Stryker’s database of spine providers (or so it seems).  I am not entirely certain how this list is generated, but the medical offices that the app presents are all spine or pain centers.  The final section, sharing, is where the user can select documents (product guides) in the products section of the app and then send those apps via email.  Overall, the app is well-made and presents a plethora or medical information, device information, and patient education material in a relatively small and easy-to-navigate interface.  I recommend it for any provider using these devices or for patients interested in learning more about Stryker’s products.

Cost: Free
Download Stryker IVS Here

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DrawMD Orthopedics

Overall: 4+
Functionality: 4
Coolness: 4+

Part of the DrawMD line of apps, these developers have created a novel platform for teaching patients about their medical conditions.  The app is essentially a “scratch pad” for showing patients their disease, demonstrating surgical techniques, and explaining anatomy.  The advantage of the Orthopedics version is that in addition to being able to use a patient’s xrays as your background, the app comes pre-loaded with orthopaedic body parts and orthopaedic “stamps.”  For example, the current version includes images of the knee, shoulder, hip, hands, feet, ankles, forearm, etc.,  as well as stamps that demonstrate cartilage, fractures, plates, screws, and arthroplasty implants (and many more).  The user can mark the image with a pen and make text comments as well.  Once complete, the image can be saved or emailed to a patient with your office information.  This app is a free and novel way to teach patients about their pathology and treatment options in a visual format.

Cost: Free
Download Here

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DePuy Lateral Interbody Fusion

Overall: 1 or 3+*
Functionality: 1 or 3+*
Coolness: 4

This app provides information, resources, and education for surgeons who use or are interested in learning more about DePuy’s minimally invasive spine products.  The application includes information about the surgical technique, with both guides and videos, as well as additional resources for the variety of products that the app promotes.  The images are very clear and well-presented, and the app includes PDF versions of the full product guides.  As expected, the app includes contact information to find out more about their products.

Cost: Free
Download Here

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NeuroMind

Overall: 2+
Functionality: 3
Coolness: 1

This app was designed for neurosurgeons, however the content includes spine and spine trauma information that would also be valuable to orthopaedic trainees and spine surgeons.  The interface is nothing more than a listing of classification systems roughly organized by specialty such as general, motor, spine, spine trauma, tumor, and vascular.  For spine and spine trauma there are about 18 classification systems listed and selecting a topic provides the user with a text description of the classification table and a reference. There is no fancy interface design, no graphics, and no ability to save “favorites” for quick reference.  But, for someone who needs access to a list of spine classification tables, this is a free and light app to keep in your pocket.  Overall, this is probably useful to only a select group of individuals.

Cost: Free
Download Here

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Ortho Scores

Overall: 3-
Functionality: 2
Coolness: 3

This app is ideal for orthopaedic surgeons who routinely keep track of patient outcomes using assessment scores.  The app allows the user to organize a list of patients, contacts, and surgeons – but the “patients” function is clearly the emphasis.  Once entering a patient, the user can then walk through many of the most popular outcomes assessments for the hip, knee, shoulder, elbow, wrist, foot, ankle, and spine.  These include, but are not limited to, Harris Hip Score, Oxford Hip Score, WOMAC, SF-12, Knee Society Score, Constant Score, DASH, Quick-DASH, and the Oswestry Low Back Pain assessment.  The free version limits the number of patients that can be scored, and the full version allows for unlimited patients, unlimited contacts, and the ability to email the scores. Overall, this can be a very useful tool for both surgeons and patients to monitor outcomes.  Unfortunately, during testing the app was quite “buggy” and frequently crashed when running from my device.  Hopefully future updates will be more stable.

Cost: Free for Lite version, $99.99 for full version.  Spine Scores only for $19.99.
Download the Full Version Here
Download the Lite Version Here
Download Spine Scores Here

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SLIC

Overall: 3+
Functionality: 4
Coolness: 2

This app uses decision-tree diagrams to assist surgeons with the treatment of various trauma-related spine pathology including burst fractures, central cord syndrome, facet fracture dislocation, facet subluxation, and hyperextension injury.  Each topic provides a flowchart as well as a decision-support interface to walk the user through the treatment algorithm.  The data appears to be peer-reviewed and closely mirrors charts from published articles on the topic, however no references are provided.  Overall, this may be useful to individuals taking spine-trauma call.

Cost: Free
Download Here

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OrthoEvent

Overall: 3+
Functionality: 4
Coolness: 3+

This free app is useful for any orthopaedic practitioner who attends or is planning to attend any orthopaedic-related conference. The app is designed to compile information regarding nearly all professional orthopaedic conferences worldwide, as well as organize conferences according to specialty. Once a conference is selected, the app provides dates, locations, abstract deadlines, and links to meeting websites. The app is limited by the fact that information is inconsistent, and that the majority of the app text is in French with no other languages available. Overall, the application is a creative and very helpful way to search for conferences that you might not otherwise be aware of.

Cost: Free
Download Here

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